Bitcoin Network Delays Production for About an Hour

On November 7, the Bitcoin network experienced a delay in the production of a new block for about an hour. Specifically, there was roughly an hour and nine minute discrepancy between the production of two separate blocks: 815,689 and 815,690.

The data from Blockchain Explorer shows that the block production was halted for more than an hour from 16:47 to 17:56 (UTC+8). Block 815,689 took nearly 43 minutes, while the next block at 815,690 took over 1 hour and 9 minutes. According to BTC.com,the Bitcoin mining companies Foundry and Antpool mined the delayed blocks.

Given that the average expected time for bitcoin to produce a block is ten minutes, this delayed block production did not go unnoticed. Also, the block 815,691, which followed the delayed blocks, was mined under a minute thereby making the brief downtime more evident.

However, it is worth noting that the latest development does not pose any danger to the network or Bitcoin investors.

Reason for Delayed Block Production

At the time, memepool or memory pool, which is a list of pending transactions waiting for validation, was relatively crowded with more than 100,000 transactions awaiting confirmation.

Additionally, the number of Bitcoin users has increased significantly with more than 700,000 new addresses recorded this month, thus creating more demand.

During an earlier delayed production, Tadge Dryja, founder of the Lightning Network, tweeted that an 85 minutes delay between blocks can be expected every 34 days assuming no difficulty changes.

Another reason that could cause a delay in block production is a brief drop in hashrate, causing difficulties in achieving adequate computing power to validate blocks.

Similar Occurrence

A delay in block production is not a new phenomenon. Similar events have occurred in recent years.

In May 2023, it also took the bitcoin network more than an hour to mine a block twice thereby leaving thousands of transactions stuck in an unconfirmed state.

Meanwhile, the year 2023 has proved to be a remarkable year for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The price of Bitcoin continues to maintain its stability within the $34,500 to $35,400 region. The network has produced the 800,000th block as it advances towards its fourth halving event in April 2024.